Kheli Dube has now scored in both of the Revolution’s wins over Santos Laguna dating back to last year's SuperLiga tournament Keith Nordstrom

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution scored three goals in a gripping second-half performance to earn a come-from-behind, 4-2 win over Mexican Primera División club Santos Laguna in both teams opening match in SuperLiga 2009 on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium.

With the win, the Revolution (1-0-0, 3 pts.) moved to the top of Group B, while Santos Laguna (0-1-0, 0 pts.) dropped to the bottom of the group. The other Group B game between the Kansas City Wizards and Atlas finished 0-0, giving both teams a single point.

Jeff Larentowicz gave the Revs the advantage going into halftime, but back-to-back goals by Matias Vuoso and Juan Pablo Rodriguez pushed Santos into the lead shortly after the break. Kenny Mansally tied the game just five minutes later, however, before Jay Heaps and Kheli Dube struck to give the Revolution the victory.

New England maintained the majority of possession in the opening 20 minutes amid driving rain and swirling winds, but the Revs were unable to create any serious scoring chances from a host of corner kicks and long throw-ins from defender Darrius Barnes.

Despite the Revolution’s early pressure, it was Santos Laguna which came closest to opening the scoring in the 24th minute when Walter Jimenez’s dipping drive was deflected just inches over the bar. The visitors slowly began to assert themselves and created another quality scoring chance in the 35th minute, but Vuoso flubbed his shot after a loose ball found him free just inside the top of the box.

The Revs responded to the swing in possession by opening the scoring in the 38th minute through Larentowicz. Defender Kevin Alston made an overlapping run down the right wing and laid a short pass back to Larentowicz, who ducked around one defender before unleashing a knuckling, dipping shot from 30 yards out. The ball bounced on the wet surface just before slipping past Santos goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez and into the far side netting.

With the good news came some bad for the Revolution, however, as captain Steve Ralston was forced out of the game following the goal with a right hamstring strain. Ralston had passed a late fitness test to start the match after rolling his ankle in training on Friday.

“Los Guerreros” had a great chance to level the score just four minutes into the second half when the ball again fell kindly to Vuoso in the right side of the box, but his curling effort towards the far upper corner sailed well high.

Vuoso made up for his earlier misses, however, by scoring the equalizer in the 51st minute. After a miscue along the backline between Emmanuel Osei and Barnes created the chance for Vuoso, he weaved back and forth inside the box before lashing a shot past Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis from close range.

Just four minutes later, Vuoso turned provider to help the visitors take their first lead of the game. Vuoso attempted to settle a low, hard cross from the right wing, but instead the ball fell into the path of Juan Pablo Rodriguez, who drove a left-footed shot inside the far post from 20 yards out.

New England responded almost instantly with a goal of its own, tying the game at 2-2 in the 60th minute through Mansally. Heaps cut the Santos defense open with a through ball to Sainey Nyassi, who played whose cross ultimately found Dube. Although Dube’s shot was saved by Sanchez, Mansally was the first to react and lashed his shot into the net.

The goal-fest continued in the 63rd minute when Heaps scored to put the Revolution back in front, 3-2. Dube corralled the ball at the top of the box and blasted a low shot towards the far post, and the drive skipped through the Santos defense to Heaps at the back post, where the veteran defender tucked the ball into an empty net.

Dube completed the scoring with a fantastic goal in the 82nd minute. A free kick from the left wing was driven by Mansally into the box, where Dube connected with a full left-footed volley and sent his blast off the left post and into the net.

The Revs will continue their quest to defend their SuperLiga title on Wednesday, June 24, when they will host the Kansas City Wizards at Gillette Stadium in the first match of a special SuperLiga doubleheader, which will also feature another Group B match between Mexican clubs Santos Laguna and Atlas. The Revolution match is set to kick off at 7 p.m. ET and can be seen live nationally on Telefutura, while radio listeners can tune into ESPN Deportes Radio or the WEEI Radio Network.

New England Revolution vs. Santos Laguna
June 21, 2009 – Foxborough, Mass. (Gillette Stadium)

Scoring Summary:
NE – Jeff Larentowicz (Kevin Alston) 38
SAN – Matias Vuoso (unassisted) 51
SAN – Juan Pablo Rodriguez (Matias Vuoso) 55
NE – Kenny Mansally (unassisted) 60
NE – Jay Heaps (Kheli Dube) 63
NE – Kheli Dube (Kenny Mansally) 82

New England Revolution (4-4-2): Matt Reis (GK), Jay Heaps, Emmanuel Osei, Darrius Barnes, Kevin Alston (Amaechi Igwe 46), Kenny Mansally (Chris Tierney 92+), Jeff Larentowicz, Pat Phelan, Sainey Nyassi (Wells Thompson 88), Steve Ralston © (Mike Videira 39), Kheli Dube

Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton (GK), Stephane Assengue, Nico Colaluca

STATS: Shots 18; Shots on Goal 8; Saves 3; Corner Kicks 8; Offsides 2; Fouls Committed 17

Santos Laguna (4-5-1): Oswaldo Sanchez (GK) ©, Juan Santiago, Rafael Figueroa, Osmar Mares (Agustin Herrera 46), Jorge Estrada, Francisco Torres, Johnny Garcia (Fernando Arce 79), Walter Jimenez (Enrique Lopez 95+), Juan Pablo Rodriguez, Daniel Luduena, Matias Vuoso

Substitutes Not Used: Miguel Becerra (GK), Jorge Barrera, Pedro Quinonez, Christian Sanchez

STATS: Shots 15; Shots on Goal 5; Saves 4; Corner Kicks 5; Offsides 2; Fouls Committed 14

Misconduct Summary:
SAN – Osmar Mares (caution) 28
NE – Kheli Dube (caution) 30
NE – Emmanuel Osei (caution) 31
SAN – Matias Vuoso (caution) 69
NE – Pat Phelan (caution) 91+
SAN – Walter Jimenez (caution) 92+

Referee: Courtney Campbell
Referee’s Assistants: Stephen Brown (SAR), Garnet Page (JAR)
Fourth Official: Lee Suckle
Time of Game: 2:01
Weather: Showers and 60 degrees
Attendance: 9,512

NOTES

• Sunday night’s match was the second meeting all-time between the Revolution and Santos Laguna, and the Revs have now won both matches … New England defeated Santos Laguna, 1-0, in the group stage of SuperLiga 2008 at Gillette Stadium on July 13, 2008.
• The Revs are now 4-0-0 against Mexican teams in official competitions … all four wins have been in SuperLiga matches at Gillette Stadium.
• The Revolution will host all three of its group-play matches at Gillette Stadium in SuperLiga 2009, including games against the Kansas City Wizards (June 24) and Mexican club Atlas (June 28) in addition to Sunday night’s meeting with Santos Laguna.
• New England is now 4-1-1 in all competitions at Gillette Stadium this season … the Revs went 3-0-1 at Gillette Stadium in SuperLiga 2008 en route to the title.
• Sunday night’s match was the first of a stretch in which the Revolution will play five games in 14 days … during that stretch, the Revs will play three SuperLiga group stage matches (June 21, June 24, June 28), a U.S. Open Cup third-round game (June 30) and an MLS regular-season contest (July 4).
• New England won’t return to MLS regular-season action until the club visits the LA Galaxy on July 4.
• New England was missing five players because of injury: Taylor Twellman (neck/concussive symptoms), Shalrie Joseph (R knee sprain), Chris Albright (L lateral meniscus surgery), Gabriel Badilla (bulging disk) and Mauricio Castro (L hamstring strain).
• Jeff Larentowicz’s goal was his first in all competitions since Sept. 11, 2008, in a 4-0 win over Chivas USA at Gillette Stadium.
• Kheli Dube has now scored in both of the Revolution’s wins over Santos Laguna … Dube scored the only goal of the game in the 70th minute of the Revolution’s 1-0 win over Santos on July 13, 2008, in last year’s edition of SuperLiga.
• Rookie Kevin Alston’s assist was the first of his professional career.
• Amaechi Igwe replaced Kevin Alston at halftime, pushing Jay Heaps to right back while Igwe took over at left back.
• Futbolito, the official 4-v-4 tournament of Major League Soccer, was held on the Gillette Stadium grounds all day prior to the Revolution’s match against Santos Laguna … with more than 200 teams registered to participate, the New England edition of the tournament established a new record for most teams at one location … with select tournament games held on the Gillette Stadium field, it also marked the first time in the 13-year history of Futbolito that games were played on an actual MLS stadium field.